Lily and James
by Roseicollis
Summary: Sorry for the unoriginal title... It starts off when Lily and James are given Polyjuice Potion and they transform into each other. It sounds really bizarre but please read and review anyway, thank you!
1. Polyjuice Potion

"Not exactly the perfect romance," Remus remarked to Sirius as Lily ignored James's clumsy attempts to a conversation yet again. "Imagine if they were put into each other's places."

Sirius considered this for a bit, then smirked. "I think we can arrange that. Do you still have that book on polyjuice potion?"

Lupin shuddered. "That's a disgusting idea," he said.

"I'm serious. It would be really funny."

"It would take forever to make, anyways," Lupin said vaugely. He was watching James continue his attempts at conversation with Lily.

"Please?"

Lupin looked at Sirius and was disturbed to find that he was bent on this idea. "That's twisted, you can't be serious."

"I'll do it by myself, then."

"I'll help you," piped up Peter eagerly.

Sirius looked at Peter. "Thanks." He turned to Lupin. "Now, I really need you to undo all the damage that Wormtail will do." Lupin laughed. "No." "Pleeaasse?" Sirius was begging. "Fine," said Lupin, thinking, 'I'm really too easily swayed...He'll forget about this by morning, so it doesn't matter."

Sirius shook Lupin out of bed. "Do you know where Prongs's invisibility cloak is? I'm going to go steal the ingredients we're missing."

"What?" Lupin opened his eyes. "No, I'm a prefect and I'll report you if you do that."

Sirius laughed. "You do that. Where's the cloak, though?" Remus climbed back into bed. "It's too early to get out." Sirius walked away, looking disappointed.

"The cloak's over there," Peter said, glad to be of help for once.

"Thanks," Sirius said gratefully. He slipped it over his tall body and crept out the door. "Seeya," he said.

He returned several hours later and threw the cloak on the floor. "Look what I got!" he said happily, dumping an armful of objects on the bed. One of them was emitting a strong smell. "They took me a while but I got them!"

"This is Prongs we're talking about, Sirius," Remus said firmly. "You can't do this."

"He'll think it's great! I mean, he'll be a bit, er, shocked at first, but he'll think it's really funny."

"Then what about Lily?"

"What about her?"

Lupin sighed. "You'll never finish, anyways."

Sirius flashed him a white smile. "Just takes a few months."

**A FEW MONTHS LATER...**

"Okay, it's done!" Sirius proudly exclaimed. "Thanks for helping, Moony."

Peter made a small noise.

"Yeah, you too, I guess," Sirius said without looking at him. Peter looked proud.

"It's interesting how the potion we're giving to James is lavender and the one for Lily is green," remarked Remus.

"You are interesting in the most boring things," Sirius told him.

"Speak for yourself," Remus said. "You play Quidditch with your rat tails in Potions with James."

"So, how are we going to get them to drink it?", Sirius wondered aloud.

"You can just tell Prongs it's beetle juice. He'll drink anything for a dare," Remus suggested.

"And Lily?"

"I don't know. Let's give this to Prongs."

Peter woke him up. "Hey, I collected this beetle juice," Sirius said. "I'll give you a knut if you drink it."

"A knut for that? No way, at least one sickle."

"Fine."

James took the sickle and the potion. He gulped it down. "Ergh."

"He didn't even notice that his 'beetle juice' was lavender," Remus whispered to Sirius.

The four friends just stood there for a few minutes in silence, rare for them. "Something the matter with my face?" asked James finally. They all looked down. "No." He ran to the mirror. "Why are my eyes green?" Peter coughed.

"And since when did I have freckles? and- and- and- was that really beetle juice?" he asked suspicously.

Remus looked out the window, and Peter looked at the floor. Sirius looked at James's now-green eyes. "No. It was polyjuice potion."

James looked at Sirius. "For who?"

"For Li- for Lily Evans!" burst out Sirius, laughing.

"Lily Evans! What the- Lily Evans!" James was furious. Sirius stopped laughing and watched. By now, the transformation was complete. James looked back into the mirror. "Lily Evans," he said again, disbelievingly. Suddenly, he started laughing. He walked over to Sirius and slapped him on the back. He was only slightly disconcerted to find how small his- her? hands were. "Brilliant," he said. "Very disgusting, but brilliant. You have to change me back, now, though, because she's going to kill me."

"No way! We spent way too much time on this. We have to give Lily some, now," Sirius answered.

"Lily some? But she's already- wait, for who?"

"You."

"Me! No!"

"Yeah, but we don't know how to do it. I think we'll just slip it into her mouth while she's sleeping."

"That's not fair. You tricked me, and it wasn't really fair either, but I could say no."

"Yeah, but Prongs, she's too smart to drink a cup of beetle juice for a sickle."

"Whatever."

Sirius and James transformed into their animagus to get into the girls dormitory, and walked into Lily's room. Her dark red hair was spread over the pillow and she was still asleep.

"Isn't she gorgeous?" James asked Sirius.

"Yeah. Here, put it in her mouth."

"I can't. You do it."

"Okay, then."

Sirius walked quietly up to Lily and slipped a few drops of polyjuice potion into her mouth. She jerked violently in her sleep several times, and then lay still. Her hair started shrinking, and her body was growing and contorting...

"I can't watch this," James told his friend. "Okay." They crept out of the girls dormitory and back into their own.

"She's going to murder you, you know," Lupin observed as James and Sirius walked back into the room. "And she's going to tell on you, and then you'll be expelled, most likely."

"No, because Sirius's amazing persuasive skills were make sure she won't."

"My amazing persuasive skills? Since when did I have those?"

"Since you put the potion in her mouth," James said, grinning.

"I'm going, then," Sirius announced a few minutes later. He climbed back up to Lily's room. When he saw her as James lying on the bed, he winced. He half-considered waking her and explaining for almost half a second.

He flicked his wand at her. A light blue zigzag of light flew out of it. When it hit her- his? mouth, it turned red. Her lips twitched and then she lay just as still.

Sirius went back to his room. "Done," he announced. "That was- quick," James said. "You didn't talk to her, did you?"

"No, but she won't tell. If she tries, she'll just start coughing."

James frowned his disapprovement.

"Don't frown, Lily sweetie, it ruins your complexion," Sirius said anxiously. James laughed and got up to fight him, but was sorely disappointed that Lily's fists couldn't hurt Sirius at all.

Lily's alarm clock rang, and she reluctantly got up and hit the off button. It was 7:00, she would have to go down for breakfast in ten minutes. Her roommate, Evelyn Clearwater, was still asleep. She got up and looked in the mirror, expecting to see her normal groggy half-awake morning self. She screamed. "Shut up, Lily," moaned Evelyn from her bed.

Lily looked down at herself. She was- ergh- James Potter, no doubt. "Ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew," she muttered.

Lily banged on the door and was disconcerted to find herself opening it for her. "Uh- uh, oh yeah, hi," James said, blushing as he realized that he was Lily. "Why the hell do I look like this? "And why the hell do you look like me?"" she demanded. "Idon'tknowIswearI'mreallysorryitwasSiriusnotme," James stammered.

"Change me back, immediately," she ordered Sirius. "I would- I swear- but I don't have any left..." "I'm going to Professor McGonagall," she told them. As she left and slammed the door behind her, James whispered to Sirius, "I look really dumb in that nightgown."

Lily knocked on the door. Professor McGonagall opened it. "Goodness, Potter, why are you wearing a nightgown?" Lily started to answer, and then to cry. "What's the matter, Potter?"

"I'm not him! I'm Lily and-" She couldn't finish her sentence, but started coughing. "Go back to your dorm, _Potter_, and I don't want this sort of nonsense from you again," Professor McGonagall said sternly.

Crying frantically, she ran back to the boys dorm. "Give me your clothes," she hissed to James. "My what?" "Your clothes. You can't go down looking like this."

He fished some robes out of his drawer and handed them to her. She ran back to her room and changed quickly. Thankfully, Evelyn had left for breakfast already. She took out her robes, ran back to the boys dorm and slammed them into James's hands.

"What are you going to do?" Peter asked anxiously. "I'm going downstairs, does it look like I have a choice?" she snapped.

Still crying, Lily ran down the stairs. "Hey, come back here," Sirius commanded. She ignored him. He ran after her and caught her. "James always goes to breakfast late, and with us," he explained. "I'm not James!" she sobbed. "Today, you are, and you do what he does."

"No, I'm not. I'm not James and I hate you! This is all your fault!" She pushed him aside and kept running down.

"You have to or I'll- I'll-"

"Hex me? Hex me then!" She kept running and disappeared from sight. Sirius shrugged, pretending to care less then he did, and ran back to James. "You're Lily Evans for the day. Better get down and do what she does... you know exactly what she does, you have been stalking her since the first day you came to this school..."

In the lunch room, Lily walked in the direction of her friends, Evelyn and Kira. A sturdy tap on the shoulder from Sirius reminded her of the nightmare. She shivered. "Come," she said forcefully to him, beckoning. He shrugged at Remus and followed her. She opened her mouth as if to yell at him, but broke down into tears instead.

Sirius didn't know what to do. He had never felt so horrible. "I'm sorry," he said quietly.

Lily looked at him, nose and eyes red. She wiped her eyes on her sleeve. She didn't think she had ever heard Sirius sound so sorry. She thought fleetingly of forgiving him, but then ran away.

Girls looked at her as she passed. "Have you ever seen James cry before?", she heard one ask another. She reached the bathroom and almost entered it before remembering to go to the boys bathroom. She turned and ran in the opposite direction. When she arrived, she looked at the mirror, and saw Potter in the worst state she had ever seen him, the worst state she had ever seen herself. Lily was no longer crying, but heaving painful sobs.

Punching the mirror, she screamed. Passing ten minutes this way, she calmed down suddenly and began to study her situation. She felt much more in control and Lily-like now. "Um, Lily?"

She whirled around. It was Sirius. "I'm really sorry, I don't know what to say," he said.

Lily was not going to let it slide this easily. "You should be," she said shortly and walked out. She had decided to be Potter for the time being.

"Do you- do you want to go back to breakfast?" he asked timidly.

She didn't answer, but walked steadily back to the hall.

Lily chose to eat what she did every day, yogurt. She was eating it daintily, pretending she didn't know that Sirius, Remus, and Peter were staring at her.

James was hungrily wolfing down three eggs, a corned beef sandwich, and seven pancakes with an ocean of maple syrup. Evelyn and Kira were looking at him very oddly indeed. Lily and James were both watching each other, but whenever one saw the other looking at him or her, he or she would look away. Finally, Lily could not bear it anymore. She got up and walked over to him, and pulled him away from her friends so they wouldn't hear anything. Kira giggled, Evelyn elbowed her. Peter made an 'eep' sound.

"You're making me fat," she told him.

"Sorry," he said, turning red. He whispered something, waved his wand, and a pancake disappeared.

"All of them," she said sternly.

He made them all disappear.

"And the sandwich," she said.

He obeyed.

"And two eggs."

James couldn't stand it anymore.

"Don't you ever eat?"

Lily flashed him a look of fire that he did not know his eyes were capable of. Continuing on bravely, he said, "And you're not eating great for me, either."

Lily ignored the grammar mistakes. "No?"

"I need my strength for Quidditch practice."

"You do?"

"Yep."

"Ah. Too bad." She turned on him and returned to Sirius, Remus, and Peter.

"Today, we are turning our desks into animals," Professor McGonagall announced. James grinned broadly. Lily fidgeted- transfiguration was her worst subject.

Professor McGonagall explained the procedures. "You may begin," she said finally.

James flicked his wand and his desk turned into a pig immediately. "Very good, Lily," she said, surprised. The pig began making deposits on the floor. McGonagall wrinkled her nose in disapproval. "Please transform it back," she said. James flicked his wand again obligingly.

Lily's desk had turned pink and sprouted two ears and a curly tail. It tried walking but could only sway back and forth. McGonagall passed. "What happened, Potter?" she asked. Lily kept waving her wand and turning parts of the desk into a pig at a time. She saw James watching her and flushed from humiliation. Finally, he leaned over, whispered the spell, and her desk was a pig. She would have thanked him if it wasn't for the fact that he did it for his reputation, not hers.

They had charms next. Lily heaved a sigh of relief- this was something she was good at. Professor Paderou was a small and elderly wizard. Lily noted that those who were good at charms usually had small builds.

"We are learning how to move these trees," he said, pointing to an empty space near the back of the classroom. Large trees started growing from the floor, spreading giant knotted roots. They stopped growing just as they touched the ceiling. Leaves grew, dark and rich green, thick and velvety. Several people 'ahhed', including Lily. She was a muggle-born and even in her seventh year, she was still awed by the miracles of magic.

She couldn't help glancing at James, who she noticed had lost his poise and looked just the slightest bit intimidated. At first, she felt triumphant, but then realized that if he was going to make a fool, it was going to be of herself and not his. She decided that she would have to help him, as he had helped her.

"You will wave your wand like this and say, "Mobiliarbus!", Paderou said, moving his wand in a quick jerk.

"Mobiliarbus!" whispered Lily, moving her wand, and watched as her tree pushed people's desks aside as it moved to the opposite side of the room. "Good, good, Potter, need to move these out of the way," Paderou said, flicking his wand. The desks disappeared. "Mobiliarbus!" belted James, and screamed as his massive tree moved towards him aggressively, uprooting the floor with it's gigantic roots. Paderou looked flustered and stopped the tree. "Remember to jerk your wand in the direction you want it to go, not at yourself!" James laughed along with everyone else. When everyone looked away but Lily, he looked at her, eyes twinkling. She nodded back and rolled her eyes, as if to say, "Do I have any choice but to help you?" She walked over and assisted him, aware of people pointing and giggling.

"Thanks," he said, looking at her carefully. She shivered, not at all enjoying the sensation of having herself look at her carefully.

"Today," the Professor of History of Magic, Dimorits, began, "I will reenact the famous and slightly one sided duel of Maxianomano IV and Salarien II with this stuffed monkey!"

The class cheered.

The professor bowed, the animal did too.

"Diffindo!"

The monkey split in two.

The class was thrilled- stomping feet, whistling, and clapping loudly.

History of Magic was a subject of great interest to Lily, but not to James. Professor Dimorits seemed to make everything interesting, but James was not interested in anything besides practical lessons. However, even he had to laugh as Dimorits reenacted the famous duel with a stuffed animal bewitched to belt out curses and to observe the proper medieval courtesies of dueling.

"Carvopilitio," the monkey squeaked, no small feat for a stuffed animal just ripped violently apart.

"Dost thou dare to insult me with this meaningless babble? Babble thou shalt! Bablorio!"

Everyone laughed.

The monkey parts jumped back together, and began to babble nonsense.

"Evanesco!" The monkey disappeared.

The class cheered again.

Sirius raised his hand.

"Sir, this can't be the way Maxianomano IV and Salarien II really dueled, because Salarien II wasn't a stuffed monkey and his hexes really had an effect, right?"

"Do you want to act it out, then, with you being Salarien and me being Maxianomano?" the professor asked.

"Sure," Sirius said, getting up from his desk and pushing back his dark wavy hair.

The class laughed, all but Lily, who was not in a good enough mood to laugh.

"Sit down," Dimorits said, chuckling.

"He did ask me," Sirius said to no one in particular.

"So, can anyone tell me why the two great wizards were fighting?"

James was tapping his foot against the floor. Peter was fidgeting loudly.

"No? Because Salarien II had turned Maxianomano's brother, Curvisle, into a teacup..."

"What kind of teacup?" Sirius asked.

"Blue china, I believe," Dimorits answered, smiling.

Sirius nodded.

"And that is how Maxianomano IV defeated the famous Salarien II! Class dismissed!" Dimorits announced.

"You coming to lunch?" Peter asked as Lily started walking in the opposite direction. "No," she said. "Why not?" he asked. "Do you really, really, really need to know?"

Peter shrugged and followed Sirius and Remus, both of which were staring at Lily apprehensively.

Lily smiled sweetly at them. Remus and Sirius started laughing and she realized how odd a sweet smile must look on James's face.

As she walked to the library, she became angrier and angrier at them, Remus and Sirius and Peter and especially, _especially_, James. Her hatred was not the hysterical sobbing kind she had felt before, but a calm and more controlled hatred. It grew stronger and propelled her to go faster in her walk. Faster and faster, until she reached the library. She nodded to the librarian, who looked at her suspiciously. "Do you know where I can find a good book on antidotes to poisons?" The librarian looked even more suspicious. "Come here," she said. Lily followed her and was soon handed a shiny new thin book entitled, "Your Guide To Stopping Everyday Poisons." As she wondered what an everyday poison was, she asked, "Do you happen to have anything else?"

"No," the librarian said coldly.

"Okay, thanks then," Lily said meekly.

She walked back to her table and flipped through the index, not expecting at all to find what she was looking for.

_Pokin's Pink Potion, colors, page 155_

_Pokric Pollution, powders, page 132_

_Polly Pag Poison, air spreads, page 177_

_Pom Powder, powders, page 134_

She was right, it didn't have it. She went back to the librarian. "Are you sure you have nothing else?" The librarian glared at her. "I have nothing." "Anything on just plain potions?"

The librarian looked insulted. "Potions? Of course, I have books and books on potions. Come here!" She led Lily to an aisle full of books, some looking old and musty, others shiny and new. "Thank you!" The librarian left and Lily looked around. That one looked good... She pulled out an old gray tome entitled, "Guide To Potions". She flipped through and soon found what she was looking for...

"Sort of wish we hadn't done this now," Sirius said to Lupin.

"Why? She totally likes me better now!"

"Are you kidding? Anyways, you're Lily, dude. Lily doesn't _talk _to us, she just hates us, remember? Go talk to Kira and Evelyn."

"They're so boring," moaned James as he walked back to their table.

**_Polyjuice Potion, _Lily read, _ is a strange potion, stranger than the strangest of potions. It will cause the drinker to transform into another person. It takes many months to brew_ **– they had been working on this for months?-**_ and many rare ingredients. Only very advanced wizards and witches manage to make this potion perfectly._ _The only way to counteract the potion is by use of the Transjector Potion, which involves many complicated steps._**

Transjector Potion... Lily put the book back and went to the spell section, picking up a copy of Advanced Potions. She looked up Efjector...

_This strange brew will restore a person under the effects of the Polyjuice Potion to their original form. It is unusual in that it changes color according to the drinker's hair. Transjector is a quick potion to create in that it only takes a few minutes, but you must know your way around a cauldron very well. It will take about an hour for the potion to take effect._

_The steps are:_

Lily carefully copied everything down onto a piece of parchment.

"Professor?" Lily asked sweetly. "Yes, Potter?", Slughorn asked without looking around. 'Damn,' thought Lily, remembering that she was now Potter. "Can I borrow some rat tails please? I'm trying to create a potion."

"Really?" asked Slughorn without interest. "Which one?"

"Er, Hair-Raising Potion," Lily answered.

"Ah, good, good. Can't see why you'd want it, though, your hair's already messed up. Here they are."

"Thank you! And, can I have some fluxweed?"

"Yes, you'll be needing that too," Slughorn said.

Lily was surprised, Slughorn had never favored James very much.

"And, er, two leeches," Lily said, shuddering.

"You don't need leeches for a Hair-Raising Potion," Slughorn said. "What are you making?"

"Hair-Raising Potion, sir, I just want the leeches, for, er..."

James would have found the perfect reason to want leeches.

"To play some sort of prank, I expect? Ah, well, while you're young..." Slughorn took out a jar containing two leeches.

"Thank you, sir!"

Lily ran back to the library.

"Lily, why were you talking to Sirius?" Evelyn asked James.

"He's really very nice," James replied.

"You can't do that to James," Evelyn said.

"James? No, I actually really like James, I only pretend I hate him," James said, thoroughly enjoying this.

"Are you alright? Has someone hexed you?" Kira asked anxiously, peering into James's eyes.

"No, I just happen to like James. Is that so bad? He's a very likable person," James said.

"It's a love potion, I know it," Evelyn told Kira.

She pointed her wand at James and muttered the counter-curse to a love potion. It happened to be very painful if the person was not actually under the effects of the potion. The white light hit James in the heart and he fell back.

Evelyn bent down to James, shaking.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah... I think... why the hell did you do that?"

"I'm really, really sorry, I thought it was a love potion..."

James got up and noticed that Sirius was laughing.

Lily put the leeches into the cauldron, turned it onto medium heat by creating a small fire under it, and was disgusted to watch the leeches shrivel up. She glanced at the instructions and carefully ripped the fluxweed leaves into little pieces. Sprinkling them onto the leeches, she felt James's hair frizzle in the heat. Lily poured a gallon of water into the cauldron, and the leeches immeadiately dissolved, turning the water gray. A strong smell started issuing from the liquid, making her cough.

The peppermints Lily hid under her bed had finally come in handy. They were, according to Advanced Potions, a crucial ingredient. She ground them in her palm and tossed them in. To her great relief, the stench disappeared and the leech-water turned a comforting shade of pink.

Lily shuddered as she diced the rat tails. She was better then James in Potions, but unlike him, she never found great amusement in the ingredients. Finally, she threw the pieces in one at a time. Clouds of smoke began to rise up from the pot.

The last ingredient was a strand of her own hair, Lily hair, not James hair. She dropped the strand in delicately. Her red hair turned gold as it touched the surface of her potion, and coiled. The gold seemed to come out of it and changed the concoction to a shimmering gold.

The mixture was done. It looked beautiful, and bubbled sweetly, but when Lily thought of the ingredients she could not bring herself to drink it. She thought of something Slughorn had once said, "_Once the ingredients are put together and combined to create the desired effect, they have changed their chemical identity_."

'The leeches and rat tails have changed their chemical identity, they have changed,' Lily told herself as she lifted the golden brew to her lips. She drank it. It tasted fierce and soft at the same time, milky around her lips but burning at her throat. Advanced Potions had said it would take about an hour for the potion to take effect... Ah well.

"It's time to go to Potions," Kira told Evelyn and James. They picked up their bags and left.

Lily was already there, looking shaky and nervous, and a reminder to James what a horrible person he was. She kept shuddering violently every few minutes.

"Are you alright, Potter?" Slughorn asked her.

She could only nod.

"Come here."

Lily obeyed.

"Hair-Raising Potion can have dangerous side effects. I can't see any difference in your hair, but do you want to go to the Hospital Wing?"

"No, th-th-th-thank y-y-you, P-p-p-professor," Lily said, smiling wanly.

Slughorn shrugged, and Lily returned to James's seat.

"Today we will be doing Aging Potions," Slughorn informed the class. "We will be testing them on Pettigrew, because he needs growing."

Some people tittered nervously. Peter looked terrified.

"Just kidding, just kidding," Slughorn said, looking annoyed. "We're doing


	2. In Potions and in the Hospital Wing

Wit-Sharpening Potion," Slughorn said. "Peter really could do with some of this. It's sort of self-explanatory, but can anyone guess what it does?"

"Sharpens your wits?" Kira suggested.

"Yes. So, collect your scarab beetles up here, and grind them on the grinding stones at the back of the room."

James laughed. He found scarab beetles extremely funny ever since he had learned that they were born in poo.

Kira and Evelyn looked at their friend anxiously.

Sirius looked at Lily anxiously.

He then looked at James, who was mouthing the word, 'Poo,' to him gleefully. He nodded to show his acknowledgment of the scarabs being born in poo and pointed to Lily.

James stopped giggling and looked at Lily. He was about to mouth something when he heard Evelyn talking to him.

"Ugh, I hate grinding scarabs."

James looked at her in surprise. "Why? They're so cool!" He lowered his voice to a whisper. "Do you know what they're born in?"

Evelyn looked scared of him.

He shrugged.

The beetles were dried and easy to grind. They smelled like chalk. Then, ginger roots had to be carefully sliced into fine slivers and sprinkled with the beetle dust. The main ingredient was armadillo bile, which was a muddy color.

After all the ingredients were all mixed together in the cauldron, it turned a vibrant lime green, a color which excited Sirius greatly. James looked disappointed. 'I thought it would be brown,' he mouthed to Sirius.

"Peter, bring your potion here," Slughorn said. Peter brought it up. His potion _was_ brown. "Do you really want to try this?" Slughorn asked.

Peter didn't point out that he had never wanted to be a guinea pig in the first place.

"Evans, bring yours up." Lily half-rose from her seat, but James didn't miss a beat. He got up and brought his potion.

"Drink some," Slughorn said.

"Th-there's n-no cup," stuttered Peter.

Slughorn conjured one. "This good?"

Peter didn't say anything. James managed a pitying look and returned to his seat.

"How long is Polyjuice Potion supposed to last?" Lily whispered to Sirius between coughs.

"Only about an hour, but I think I put extra nettles in by accident and that's why it's going so long," Sirius answered uncomfortably.

"So how long will it last?" Lily asked.

"A while... maybe a week, even..." Sirius said, closing his eyes and trying to disappear. After a while, he opened them cautiously and found to his surprise that Lily did not seem angry at all, even pleased. He avoided looking at her and instead concentrated on Peter, who was under the impression that if he did not move at all or make any noise Slughorn might forget about him.

"Peter, come and drink some. It's perfectly good, you know."

Peter filled his cup with the solution and gulped it down in one swift moment. Many people applauded, including Sirius. James was about to whistle but Evelyn looked at him strangely so he didn't.

The class grew quiet after a few minutes. Nothing seemed to be happening to Peter. People began to tap their pencils. Sirius began carefully manicuring his hands with the leftover powdered scarab beetles. Slughorn checked his watch.

There was a loud POP! and everyone looked up. Peter was jumping up and down as if he couldn't keep still.

"What's seven times eight times fifteen times twenty-eight plus two?" Slughorn barked out.

"Twenty-three thousand five hundred twenty-two!" Peter squeaked back.

"If there are seven squares in a circle and twenty-three circles in a rectangle and every rectangle goes into a triangle seventy-two times more then a square goes in to a circle, how many squares are in a rectangle?"

Without missing a beat, Peter replied, "Eight one two four four!"

Slughorn shook his head sadly. "It doesn't work on him," he said.

Some people laughed.

"AHH! WHAT'S HAPPENING TO JAMES?" Iris Peton screamed suddenly.

The class turned to peer at Lily, who was not feeling very well. She had fallen out of her seat. Her eyes were rolling and she was frothing at the mouth and clutching at air. Sirius had tried to go near her to see what the matter was and almost got his eye clawed out.

James saw her and panicked. Because of Evelyn sitting next to him (How he hated her now!), he couldn't do anything but sit there, jerking violently as Lily had just been doing.

Sirius was jumping around and clutching his eye. Several people got up and started screaming and running around the room hysterically, enjoying themselves profusely.

After several minutes Lily sat up pleasantly. "Sorry," she said. Everyone stared at her. Slughorn looked amused. "Let's continue now, Potter, if you don't mind."

While everyone shrugged and took out their books, Lily was undergoing a transformation. James hadn't taken his eyes off her and she watched him curiously as she felt herself shrink.

She must have been shrinking slowly for James didn't realize anything was different for a few seconds. He then gave out a quiet yelp as Lily's dark red hair fell gracefully to her waist. James ran out of the room so quietly and swiftly that no one noticed but Evelyn.

"Class dismissed," Slughorn said.

Strangely enough, no one realized that James had just turned into Lily. When they left the classroom, Lily waited outside. After a while, a hand appeared. Then a cloak was thrown onto the floor and James stood there.

"What was the cloak for?" Lily asked, knowing perfectly well.

"So no one sees us together! What happened there?"

"I took Transjector Potion."

"Great. Very smart. You could have at least told me so I could make some too!" James couldn't believe that he was yelling at Lily.

Lily couldn't think of an answer.

"You scared me, you know? Ever thought of that? You were lying on the floor having some sort of fit!"

"What do you care? This was funny to you, wasn't it? You were laughing along with Sirius!"

"Not then! Not while you were shaking in your chair!"

"I didn't plan on that! I didn't think this through! I was panicking! I had just turned into the person I hate the most!"

James felt repulsive, completely disgusted with himself. The last three words... She really did hate him, and he deserved it entirely.

"Sorry," he mumbled, looking down. He picked up his cloak and put it back on. The only reason Lily knew he had left was by the sound of his footsteps, running.

And Lily was just left standing there.

James ran to the library, where he put his cloak in his pocket. The librarian distrusted him, but liked Lily.

"Do you have anything on Transjector Potion?" he asked.

"Yes, yes, come here," she said, leading him to a shelf and pulling a book out.

"Thank you."

Lily went to her dormitory, where Kira and Evelyn were waiting for her.

"Why did you run out?" Evelyn asked.

"Because- I wasn't feeling well," Lily answered.

"That would explain a lot of things," Evelyn said darkly.

"Like...?" Lily asked. It had never occurred that James would say weird things to her friends.

"Since when do you like James?"

"WHAT?" 

"Lily... Are you okay?"

"Um." Lily thought this over.

"No, not really."

"Come on."

"Where?"

"We're taking you to the Hospital Wing."

Lily was about to protest when she realized that she really didn't feel well.

James finished his Transjector Potion and dropped his hair in it. A dark red seeped out from it once it touched the surface, reminding him of Lily's hair.

He brought it to his lips and drank it.

"Where's James?" Remus asked Sirius.

"I dunno, he's been gone for a few hours now," Sirius said.

"Let's go find him," Remus suggested.

"Yeah."

The three friends searched the bathroom first. Sure enough, James was lying unconscious on the floor, in his own form.

"Wait, he might just be joking," Sirius said to Remus suspicously. "I'm going to tickle him." Sirius began a rigorous tickling routine.

"Oh my gosh," he said after some time had passed and James had made no response. "He must be really, really sick."

"Let's lift him and bring him to the Hospital Wing," Remus suggested.

As soon as Lily fell upon the soft white mattress in the Hospital Wing, she slipped into a dreamless sleep. Her cat, Vivi, settled in a tight ball on her face and kept one eye half-open protectively.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Madam Calclamor, the nurse, clucked her tongue in disapproval as James was brought in on the staggering backs of Remus and Sirius. Peter was turning red with the effort of pretending to help.

"What happened to him?" she asked.

"We're not sure... he was just unconscious when we found him," Remus said.

Madam Calclamor eyed them with distrust. The four boys had been known to pretend to be unconscious and had been carried in much the same manner numerous times.

"Let me see," she said suspiciously, coming over to feel James's chest. "Oh my goodness!" she exclaimed. "Put him down, right now!"

The boys did as they were told.

"Do you have any idea what happened?"

"Well, he was next to a caul-" began Peter. Sirius shoved him hard. Peter fell over.

"No," Sirius said innocently.

"Can we stay? I really hope he's alright," he added anxiously.

Madam Calclamor shrugged suspiciously.

"Put him here," she said, gesturing to the bed next to Lily's.

They obliged.

"Argh! There's a furry monster in the next bed! Oh, that's Lily," Sirius whispered.

Lily woke up at last, four hours later. She forgot where she was for a moment, and then remembered everything. She looked around and saw James on the bed next to her. Before he could wake up, she pushed Vivi off her face and hid at the bottom of the bed under a mass of blankets.

James opened his eyes blearily and had no idea why he was where he was. He looked around for someone to tell him why. The person next to him was huddled on the bottom. He wondered briefly who it was. He coughed loudly to attract the attention of Madam Calclamor. It didn't work, she was at the other side of the room.

He looked again at the bed next to him and saw red hair peeping out. Oh. Lily. James wondered if she was there for the same reason he was. He considered asking her, but was too ashamed. He buried under his blankets just as she had.

Lily heard James cough and made a tiny peephole in her mound to see him. He was buried under a hill of bedspreads, too.

An hour later, Sirius, Remus, and Peter entered the Wing to visit.

"Oh my god! James turned into a mountain!" exclaimed Sirius.

James emerged sheepishly.

"Whatsup?" Sirius asked.

James gestured to Lily, who didn't know that he saw her. Alarmed, she covered the peephole up.

Sirius nodded sagely and the four immediately began conversing in some sort of very fast sign language.

James spread his arms out with his hands curving at the top, pointed to himself, and then to the rest of the room.

Sirius made cauldron-stirring signs.

Remus made stirring cauldron signs and then spread out his arms questioningly.

James shook his head violently and made bizarre body movements, apparently to indicate change, and then pointed to himself.

He then jerked his head towards Lily and spread his arms out again.

Sirius, Remus, and Peter shrugged simultaneously.

James shrugged too, and then gestured a small object hopefully.

Sirius solemnly handed him a chocolate frog.

The four then did their secret handshake.

When the three visitors left, Lily decided that she needed to talk to James. She threw her blankets off and sat up.

"Can you at least make it so I can tell people what happened?" she asked.

"What?" James asked, confused.

Lily began again, very slowly, as if speaking to a small child. "Whenever... I try... to tell... people... what happened... I start... coughing..."

James blushed. "I didn't do that," he said. "Sirius did. I told him not to, but..."

"Can... you... take... it... off?" Lily asked.

"No. Only he can."

"Can... you... get... him... to... take... it off?"

"Okay," James said, looking at the floor.

Lily fell back on her bed with a bounce and ignored James for the rest of the day.

When James was sure Lily wasn't looking, he pulled out a small mirror that he carried with him at all times.

He whispered, "Sirius" and it wasn't long before Sirius appeared.

"What?"

"Lily wants you to take the spell off," James said.

"No!"

"Yeah. We have to."

"What do you think is going to happen to us?" Sirius asked anxiously.

"Just detention for the rest of the year," James answered lightly.

"Oh. That's okay, I guess. I'll come around later, when she's asleep. She gets really mad," Sirius said.

"Yeah. Thanks a ton."

An hour later, Lily was sleeping. James pulled out the mirror again.

"She's asleep," he told Sirius.

"I'm in the middle of Herbology," Sirius answered. "I'll just say that I'm feeling sick and I need to go to the Hospital Wing."

"Good," James said. "It's true. Except for the sick part."

"Yeah. See you in a few minutes."

The mirror went back to its normal reflecting self. James amused himself by making faces at it. Finally, Sirius entered the Wing.

He walked over and flicked his wand at Lily. White light flew out and hit her in her mouth, which relaxed its tense position.

"Got to go," he told James, leaving. "I'll say that Madam Calclamor told me that I was a hypochondriac again."

After a short time, Lily awoke. James decided not to hide under his blankets again, she didn't either. They both sat there, feeling awkward.

"I'm really sorry," he said after a while.

She didn't answer, but looked at him for a few seconds.

"Really. It was stupid of me."

She seemed not to hear him. He looked at her earnestly a few minutes.

Lily was glad when Madam Calclamor came with the medicine.

"I'm not really sure what's wrong with you two," she said, puzzled, "especially you, Evans, but this can't do any harm."

They cautiously took their potions. James took his, Lily sniffed hers and shuddered.

James's tasted fine, and he leaned back on his bed while drinking it.

Lily took hers and immediately began vomiting all over the bed.

"Potter, you're free to go, but Evans needs to stay a little longer until I find what's wrong."

He got up, glad for once to leave the Wing, and left for class as quickly as he could.

To her surprise, Lily found herself a bit bored after he had left.


End file.
